This recipe for Churro Cupcakes is a great alternative to making real churros! These can be made ahead of time as a fun dessert for Cinco de Mayo or Taco Tuesday! The delicious cinnamon cupcakes are frosted with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. There is also an optional chocolate sauce that can be drizzled over the frosting for an amazing dessert!

For traditional churros they need to be fried and should be eaten right away for the best flavor. That is not always an option if you are bringing a dessert to a party or gathering. The next best thing is a cupcake that is inspired by churros! There is plenty of cinnamon and sugar in the cupcakes, frosting and topping to give you a churro flavor. And the optional chocolate sauce is a bonus!

The chocolate sauce is pretty easy to make. You can use a chocolate of your choice, but I went with 70% dark chocolate. The best way to make it is to heat the heavy cream first, remove it from the heat, and then stir in the chocolate until it is melted. Then drizzle the chocolate onto the frosting as soon as possible. There are several ways to do that, but I like using a plastic condiment bottle with a small nozzle on top.

The high-altitude recipe for Churro Cupcakes is below, and the sea level recipe is at the end. Hope you enjoy the recipe! Be sure to leave a comment if you try it out or have any questions!

High Altitude Churro Cupcakes

A delicious recipe for Cinco de Mayo or Taco Tuesday! An easy dessert that can be made ahead of time. This recipe will make enough for 24 cupcakes.

Equipment

• 2 Cupcake Pans
• 24 Cupcake Liners/Baking Cups
• 1 Small Saucepan (optional)

Ingredients

Churro Cupcakes

• 5 large eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup butter (melted)
• 3/4 cup avocado oil (or oil of your choice)
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar minus 1 tbsp
• 1 cup brown sugar minus 1 tbsp
• 3 cups flour plus 3 tbsp
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Churro Frosting

• 1 cup butter
• 16 oz. cream cheese (two 8 oz. packages)
• 32 oz. powdered sugar (two 16 oz. bags or about 8 cups)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon

Topping

• 2 tbsp cinnamon sugar

Chocolate Sauce (optional)

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 4 oz. chocolate (roughly chopped)

Instructions

Churro Cupcakes

1. Preheat your oven to 350F.
2. Crack your eggs into a small bowl and set aside.
3. Measure out your buttermilk and sour cream, set them aside.
4. Prepare your cupcake pans. Line them with your baking cups/cupcake liners.
5. In a small bowl combine the flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Mix with a fork until they are incorporated.
6. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, oil and melted butter to your mixing bowl. Mix until incorporated.
7. Add in half of the eggs and mix until just combined. Add in the rest of the eggs and mix until just combined.
8. Add in the vanilla extract and mix until combined.
9. Add in the sour cream and mix until combined.
10. Add in half of the flour mixture and mix until combined.
11. Add in the buttermilk and mix until combined
12. Add in the rest of the flour mixture and mix until combined.
13. Mix the batter by hand to make sure everything is incorporated. Add the batter to your cupcake pans, filling them about 2/3 to 3/4 to the top.
14. Bake for about 16 minutes and check with a toothpick. Bake for an additional 2-3 minutes as needed.
15. Take the cupcakes out of the oven and let them cool in the pans for about 15 minutes.
16. Remove the cupcakes from the pans and let them completely cool on a cooling rack.
17. Either frost the cupcakes or store them an airtight container. The cupcakes will last for about 12 hours at room temperature, or 7 days in the refrigerator. You can freeze the cupcakes in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks if you want to make them ahead of time. You could also freeze any leftover cupcakes that have been frosted for up to 3 months in an airtight container.

Churro Frosting

1. Take out the cream cheese and let it sit on the counter for a few minutes.
2. Leave the butter on the counter to soften a bit at room temperature. Or you can place two sticks of butter in the microwave and heat for 9-11 seconds to soften. Once the butter is a little soft but is still firm it is ready. You should be able to make an indent in the butter if you push firmly.
3. Place the butter, cream cheese and cinnamon in your mixing bowl and beat for a few minutes.
4. Open a bag of powdered sugar and add in about a third of the bag. Mix until combined. Continue until the whole bag is mixed in.
5. Add in the vanilla extract and mix until combined.
6. Open the second bag of powdered sugar and add in about a third of the bag. Mix until combined. Continue until the whole bag is mixed in.
7. Mix the frosting for about 2 minutes. Scrap the bowl, then mix for another minute.
8. Mix the frosting by hand with a spatula or spoonula for a few seconds to try to get out some of the air bubbles and make sure everything is incorporated.
9. Frost the cupcakes as desired.
10. Store any leftover frosting in an airtight container. It will last up to 10 days in the refrigerator, or you could freeze it for up to 3 months.

Topping

1. Sprinkle the frosted cupcakes with the cinnamon sugar.

Chocolate Sauce (optional)

1. Over medium heat, bring the heavy cream to a boil in a small saucepan.
2. Remove the pan from the heat and quickly stire in the chocolate. Continue to stir until it has melted, and it incorporated in the heavy cream.
3. Drizzle the chocolate sauce over the cupcakes.